Grocery Store Security

[DancesWithWife]

Are these coming to your Safeway? We have them at one of the Safeway's in Longview. I also watched a video how Home Depot is changing their stores. We live in difficult times. Knowing it's only going to get worse for a short time will be a challenge to many without faith.  I remember going into the Safeway near us after they installed these new security measures and speaking with the customer service manager. They hope it cuts down on the crime their store has been facing. 

 

[Qapla]

We already have a couple Walmarts that have interior entry gates to make it a one-way entry to the shopping area

 

Home Depot is creating "tool corals" with a single-entry point to the hand tools (including power ones) with a register to pay for them as you leave the tool coral.

 

Lowes is supposed to be working with some manufacturers to install electronic circuits in the battery tools that won't let them operate unless they are registered in the store when you check out and they are activated by Lowes.

 

[Tortuga]

Wouldn't it be more fun if they gave the store employees water ballons filled with cheap perfume?

It would be easy to identify the bad guys...

 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

We were in Europe mid last year. The grocery chains there were all 'one-way' gated exits. You had to scan your receipt to get the door to open.
Here Downunder, they are 'secuity tagging' high cost items like meat and cosmetics. The one-way exit gates are monitored by 'AI', and it will open the gate as it tracks you from the register to the exit gate. The 'AI' also looks at the items you scan at the 'self-checkout' to make sure you don't 'accidentally' put the wrong code it when you weigh your goods.
(On the self-checkouts - it weighs your 'done basket' to check what you just scanned matches the expected weight. People got clever and would weigh 1kg of steak, but select 1kg of apples, to try fooling the system. So, they added the AI camera to see if it's apples or meat you are weighing)
My wife (who works at the checkout) now wears a bodycam as a protection to the irate theives who do not like the security measures. They run and jump the fence and gates... lol

We are bouyed by the fact: The end is in sight...


Old (Downunder) Tone

[CHecker]

It's ironic when the thieves become screaming idiots when they can't get away with theft. Here in the US theft isn't even stopped. They'll go into an Apple store and take anything and everything. Or department stores, they'll take whole racks of high end purses and clothing. 

Living in this system isn't living, it's an existence. And I can't wait till it's all gone. 

[Pabo]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:53 AM, ➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone said:

We were in Europe mid last year. The grocery chains there were all 'one-way' gated exits. You had to scan your receipt to get the door to open.
Here Downunder, they are 'secuity tagging' high cost items like meat and cosmetics. The one-way exit gates are monitored by 'AI', and it will open the gate as it tracks you from the register to the exit gate. The 'AI' also looks at the items you scan at the 'self-checkout' to make sure you don't 'accidentally' put the wrong code it when you weigh your goods.
(On the self-checkouts - it weighs your 'done basket' to check what you just scanned matches the expected weight. People got clever and would weigh 1kg of steak, but select 1kg of apples, to try fooling the system. So, they added the AI camera to see if it's apples or meat you are weighing)
My wife (who works at the checkout) now wears a bodycam as a protection to the irate theives who do not like the security measures. They run and jump the fence and gates... lol

We are bouyed by the fact: The end is in sight...


Old (Downunder) Tone
 

 

Don't forget the camera on the register that looks at you, you will see a little camera just above the checkout monitor.

 

When paying by card, they also keep a record of the card in order to track your details and your purchase history too, no need to rewards or loyalty cards. Now that they have camera's on the self-serve registers, even if you pay with cash, the software on the registers can link your face to your purchase history.

 

When they recently installed the AI on the registers, the registers always lock up with an error when I scan items, because my scanning action causes the AI to not register my hand, but the register scanner does pick up the barcode. So the staff basically have to standby me at the register to enter in their store credentials everytime it locks up, thaus taking me longer. They get frustrated at this, but I keep telling them if you want to minimise this problem, then have staff-manned registers operating instead of self-serve registers. If you want to minimise theft in a store, then have the staff do the scanning that they used to do for decades before the self-serve registers and employ more staff. The costs benefit ratio between of using AI self-serve registers, where people steal or try to outsmart the register compared to that of using staff to scan and they pack the items and the cost of their of paying their wages is not that much difference.

 

Since COVID, when I do my shopping (usually Friday might), the funny thing is I see more staff packing customer online orders then I do see customers doing their own shopping. So those staff who used to do the registers are now probably doing customers shopping for them.

 

 

 

There is no such think as privacy anymore.

[Qapla]

I have been using the self-checkout system for as long as they have been in places where I shop. I have not experienced all the "problems" that YT videos seems to say are so prominent. I scan my stuff and pay my amount due, and it works like it is supposed to.

 

But then, I am not trying to fool the machine, making awkward movements, acting odd or some of the things I have seen some do who seem to be trying to have problems.

 

Likewise, I do not mind or complain about receipt checking on my way out, since I have nothing to hide and am willing to do my part to keep prices down.

 

What gives me a laugh is these people who make such a fuss about Walmart (and other stores) and the self-checkouts. They claim all sorts of problems, want a discount for checking out their purchases and blame the store for theft (instead of blaming the thieves) and then - they go get in their cars, drive over to the gas station and pump their own gas and pay-at-the-pump without a single complaint.